I Found You — A Percabeth Cinderella Story
by Luthien'sLight
Summary: A cinderella-story/Percy Jackson Percabeth fanfic. Percy is a famous musician. Annabeth is just your daily commute drone with a hidden talent for music. Here are the facts: Percy just had a bad breakup. Annabeth just had a bad breakup. Annabeth does a cover and slightly changes Percy's breakup song. Percy sees it and is entranced. What happens? Read to find out. AGAIN, NO LEMONS.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do NOT, in any way, own PJO. Any and all similarities to real life people besides the character "Epiphany" are coincidental and not a reference to anyone, and I have his permission to reference him. Check out his lyrics on Genius!

Third Person POV

The single was charting everywhere, fueled by the rumors, and then confirmed facts, that the famous 19-year-old Rap artist/singer Percy Jackson had officially broken up with 20-year-old Reyna Ramírez-Avellano, a fellow artist with a massive fan base, giving hope once again to all 13-year-old girls all over the world. They had been America's, Europe's, and even Asia's power couple since the last year, but had only started to date four months before the breakup. All prognostics had announced that it was a sure thing that the couple would one day be married. They also conveniently forgot Reyna's pattern of cheating. Nobody was willing to believe it, until Percy Jackson made an announcement through a live Facebook Feed that the rumors were true. Reyna's almost infinite fan base refused to accept it, until the photos were leaked, so now it was official. The greatest power couple to ever exist were officially over each other. All this being said, due to the rumors being confirmed, Percy Jackson's heartbreaking single "Deadly Betrayal" had been at the top of the charts for the past month, and it was still going strong.

Percy's POV

Percy had just woken up, exhausted from a long night of conversation with his fellow artist and friend Epiphany, who had helped him write his single and deal with the heartbreak the breakup had caused. Percy always loved to surf YouTube to forget about the world when he was under stress, so a couple minutes after waking up he was deep down the rabbit hole, checking out all the wacko content. A random "Up Next" video popped up, with the title "Girl raps to Percy Jackson's 'Deadly Betrayal'". Intrigued, knowing that a fan covers could often be excellent, Percy clicked on the box. The video, obviously taken from a shaky cell-phone camera, nevertheless floored Percy. The girl, a blond clearly in her early twenties or extremely late teens, had her back to the camera, and was clearly unaware of the fact that she was being filmed. Her voice, beautiful but intentionally hoarse, communicated with a passion the raw pain of Percy's song. Her voice shaking with pain and fury, the song burst out of her:

(Actually, written by rap artist Epiphany, a good friend of mine, who has not yet posted anything on YouTube but has lyrics on Genius and is currently recording an album, so check him out!)

"Girl I told you…

I wouldn't leave you until we reached death

But I hold you…

Accountable for why I find my heart dead

Everything was great

Everything was fine

Why you gotta mess it up, huh?

Anyone would give

Every bit of their time

To have a relationship half as fly, yeah

Half as strong, yeah

Half as log yeah

Why you gotta tear it down, girl?

I was on a four-week trip to Spain

A little like out four-month relationship

Dump me in the middle of the trip?

Now I know there are at least four types of pain…

Hurting because you accused me of failing as your boyfriend

Ashamed because I felt for a second that I could have done better

Anger because I realized I did everything for you but have sex

You see I refused to bed her

And betrayed, (yells) **Because you told me you've been seeing someone else the past two months!**

**I gave everything for you, everything that you could want!**

**You just decided it was fun and decided to screw me totally**

**Back to front!**

**And then I come back and smile at me sardonically behind your boy's back and mock me**

(yells even louder) **You then come crying to me when he cheats on you and come me to dissect the pain?**

**I tell you one thing!**

**I'ma cut you, but I promise the tool and the way I cut are gon' be blunt!**

And you know I-"

The person recording giggled a little, and immediately turned the phone down as the singer began to turn and Percy could hear the shouting. "I told you no recording! What if Percy Jackson was to ever see this? He would laugh at me for being so bad! You said you wouldn't shame me this way!" The camera started shaking and the view began moving, clearly communicating that the camera-bearer was running. "Hey! Come back here! DON'T YOU DARE POST THAT, THALIA G-" The video ended.

Percy laughed, and tried to move on to another video, but put it down within the first ten seconds. He lay down once more, thinking of this girl. Her haunting voice kept creating havoc in his head. For the next two days, Percy tried to forget about that YouTube video, but the girl's voice kept popping up. On the third day, at two in the morning, Percy grabbed his computer, opened, and typed in "Thalia…" He hesitated, thinking of all the last names that ended in "G" and how hopeless this was. He began to type anyway.

Annabeth POV

Annabeth was fuming. Thalia Grace. Rock artist extraordinaire. Though Annabeth was a nobody, Annabeth's friend was a rising star, quickly gaining popularity as her and her band, 'Hunters of Artemis' had gradually begun releasing some music. Thalia, the lead singer, was good, no doubt. But even she failed (at least in Annabeth's humble opinion, thank you very much,) to do Percy Jackson's song justice, and who was Annabeth to even /try/ to come even remotely close? But Thalia had filmed her. Singing. She was mortified. No, wait, she was furious. Thalia had put that video on YouTube. Gods-damned YouTube. A few hours after the catastrophe, Thalia had emailed her the link. Annabeth had watched, she actually had, come on, give her /some/ credit, albeit being between parted fingers and through horrified eyes. Yes, that was indeed her, howling out Percy Jackson's massive hit 'Deadly Betrayal', not some other random blonde girl with a baseball cap and an orange t-shirt with 'Camp Half-blood' and a Pegasus stamped across it. In her defense, it had been the first thing she'd found to wear and threw it on after waking up on the couch with ice cream cartons and half-finished cookies everywhere. She herself had also suffered a breakup recently. Her boyfriend of 2 years. Luke Castellan, had abandoned her for only the gods knew who, and left her heart shattered into a million pieces of [Insert some easily breakable material here that is not glass or porcelain]. When Percy had dropped the song, she had instantly fallen in love with it and often had it looped on her i-pod as she went about her day. She had showered before heading into her bedroom, and promptly frozen up as soon as she'd seen a picture of Luke on my bedside table. How had she- how did Thalia missed that one- she stomped down on her feelings as hard as possible, wrestled them into submission. Locked them in a box and placed the box on the shelf, never to even look at the Box again. She'd stared at Luke's photo a little while longer, one earbud in her ear while her i-pod dangled uselessly from the other. The picture of Luke seemed to laugh at her, taunt her- 

"Boy I told you.…  
I wouldn't leave you until we reached death  
But I hold you…  
Accountable for why I find my heart dead…"

Annabeth mournfully looked at his picture. Luke only grinned at her, blue eyes sparkling. She started singing in earnest then 

"Everything was great  
Everything was fine  
Why you gotta mess it up, huh?" She demanded his picture. She could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes, knew her voice was hoarse from sobbing her heart out in Thalia's arms yesterday night.  
"Anyone would give  
Every bit of their time  
To have a relationship half as fly, yeah  
Half as strong, yeah  
Half as long, yeah  
Why you gotta tear it down, boy?"  
Luke just jeers at her from his frame, and Annabeth found her voice rising on the next verse.  
"Hurting because you accused me of failing as your girlfriend  
Ashamed because I felt for a second that I could have done better  
Anger because I realized I did everything for you but have sex  
You see I refuses to bed him  
And betrayed, because you told me you've been seeing someone else the past two months!"  
She wailed out the next verse and embarrassed herself further by shrieking out the rap. That had been when Thalia had giggled. Slowly, Annabeth Chase had turned around, and roared. "I told you no recording! What if Percy Jackson was to ever see this?" Dear gods, now that was a terrifying thought... that just might have to go in the Box. "You know how much he'd laugh at me- if he cared- for being so bad? You /said/ you wouldn't shame me this way!" Thalia had started running, and Annabeth gave chase. "Hey! Come back here: DON'T YOU DARE POST THAT, THALIA G-" The video ended.  
Annabeth dropped her head into her hands. "Oh, my gods," she mourned. "I'm screwed. So, so, screwed."

-Percy POV-  
Three hours of nonstop searching all for nothing. And yet Percy kept trying. Thalia... Grahm. Thalia... Grant. What were last names that started with G...? Garret? Grape? Graham? Graham cracker? Percy shook his head. Damn it, now he was hungry. He headed out into the kitchen, and promptly tripped over his cat, Hobbes. "Sorry," he said to it. "I suppose I'm not very grace-" and then it hit him. He was back at his computer faster than you could say 'satyr', and typed in THALIA GRACE.


	2. Old headaches and New ones

Annabeth's POV

"Thalia!" Annabeth fumed, storming into the kitchen. "You are dead. So, so dead." Thalia put her hands up fast, shark tooth bracelet clattering. "Annabeth, you know I-"  
"How /could/ you?" The blonde demanded, grey eyes sparking. "You /told/ me, Thalia, you /told/ me you'd never embarrass me like that!"  
The brunette shrugged, running a hand through her spiky hair. "Annabeth, just hear me out. You have a really good voice, actually. You totally rocked that song, girl, live up and own it."  
Annabeth snorted. "Yeah. If a 'good voice' includes screeching like a dying cow."  
"No, seriously," Thalia protested. "Come on, sit down." She gestured at a chair. "You don't sound like a dysfunctional cow. You put a hall of a lot of feeling into that. What brought it on?"  
The 19-year-old slowly sank into a chair. "I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly. Thalia only raised an eyebrow. Annabeth shook her head, eyes desolate and dull. "No, Thalia."  
"Hey!" Thalia hopped off the counter and walked over, eyebrows furrowed. "No, stop! You're going into the Box again, don't open that!" she swatted at Annabeth's hand, as if she could physically stop her friend from accessing those memories. Annabeth gave her a teary smile, and Thalia let out a small breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Now do you think you can tell me what's going on?" She asked quietly, taking Annabeth's hand between her own and cradling it gently.  
Annabeth nodded jerkily. "Y-yes," she released a shaky breath. "I- I saw Luke." She confessed, and Thalia tensed. "Where?" she demanded. "Where was he, is he still there? Oh gods, did he do something to you? Did he hurt you? Are you okay? Where does it hurt? I'm a sh*tty roommate — can I go punch him in the-?"  
Annabeth let out a watery chuckle. "A picture, Thalia. Not Luke in person. But-" a hesitant inhale, "it made me feel... " she shook her head again, ponytail snapping back and forth. "I don't know-" Annabeth scrubbed at her face. Her left leg was trembling. Actually, all of her was shaking. "Mad," she finally decided. "It made me feel mad, and desperate and furious and empty and I just didn't know what to do because I gave him everything and he threw it away, and I don't know if I did the right thing because I wasn't willing to have sex with him and he hates me now and he's seeing someone else, he'd been seeing her for two months! Thalia, two **months**, and I thought we were real, but I guess we weren't, where we? We were only temporary, and now he's gone and I don't know what to do! How did we even miss that picture anyway? We looked through the whole house, Thalia, the **whole** house…" she dissolved into tears.  
"Shhh," Thalia immediately soothed, dropping her friend's hand in favor of rubbing circles on her back. "Shhh, come on, let's move to the couch." It had started raining at some point during Annabeth's confession, and it pattered down, splattering across the windows like the tears across Annabeth's face. Thalia backed up to the couch, practically tripped over it, and flailed about blindly for a handhold. She eventually was able to settle down next to Annabeth. "You gonna be okay?"  
"Yes," is all Annabeth said, because anything else would rip her heart from her chest and tear it open, spilling emotion like sliced and shattered sapphires across the hardwood floor. She curled up into Thalia's arms, and let herself be comforted by her friend's soothing words and strong grip.  
And so Thalia Grace held Annabeth Chase on a rain soaked afternoon, stroking her hair and whispering gentle words in her ear. They stayed like that for a little while, listen to the tranquil pitter patter of the rain and their own breathing. It would have stayed that way, if not for that one moment. That one moment when everything changed. That moment when Annabeth's phone dinged, and that notification.

New message from: PercyJackson*Verified*

Percy's POV

For almost two months, even with the newest clue as to who the camera-girl was, Percy attempted heroically (or stupidly, you decide) to stop trying to track this girl down. At the end of the second month, he couldn't take it anymore. Half an hour and fifty million link clicks later (ignoring his ex's posts about her new man), a Twitter post caught Percy's attention. There was a pretty, if not exactly Percy's type, dark haired girl taking a selfie with a group of girls, all of them dark haired but for one lithe blonde, smiling quietly at the back of the group. The caption read:

Thalia Grace: "Hanging out with the girls and my bestie Annabeth! Rocking out, still trying to convince my B AnnabethChase to join the band, because by the gods and especially Artemis, people, that girl can sing!"

There were a bunch of "yessss"es and "yolo baby"s among other things, but what most interested Percy was the AnnabethChase. "Thank the gods for tweets and retweets," He thought, "Or I'd still be looking right now". He stopped to think for a second. "I can't assume it's her, just because she's a singer and blond and has the same body and the same friend… When I assumed that about Mike it was the most awkward thing ever — the guy I followed and messaged ended up not actually being Mike." He was about to click on 'AnnabethChase' to see her account, thinking, "I need to research a little more about her-" When he realized, "OH CRAP! I have a date!" To try to forget about Reyna, Percy had signed up for some dating apps, to help him get over her. He rushed to get ready, and took his extremely expensive, slightly over-the-top sports car to Balthazar, in Lower Manhattan. He got there just in time, pulling up to see the girl he had matched with walking down the sidewalk. Percy had to admit it — this girl was forkin' GORGEOUS. Perfect body, perfect face, perfect lips, perfect hair, perfect style. She was every teenage boy and middle aged man and young man's dream. Everyone and anyone could fall in love with her. So why was he just picturing Annabeth Chase walking down that street instead of her? He shook his head, got out of the car, and went to greet her, tossing his keys, and passing a generous tip to, the Valet. The girl — no, woman, smiled at him. "A punctual man. I like that. My name is Piper Maclean. Shall we go in?" They had an excellent meal. The woman was witty, intelligent, and a good conversationalist. Percy enjoyed his time hugely, but his deepest thoughts kept telling him he would enjoy it more if it was a certain blond girl who he had maybe seen in a cover art video.

"Shut up, mind-Percy! Why this sudden fascination with this random girl who we don't even know is the one we saw? What's wrong with you? Me? Us? Whatever?" At the end of the meal, Percy payed for the meal and they headed out the back (just in case Percy had been seen by paparazzi). Once they were in the back alley, Piper turned her face to Percy, and without a word, began to inch towards his face with her own. "DON'T KISS HER! DON'T KISS HER!" "Shut UP, mind-Percy!" He turned his face towards hers, leaning. Then Annabeth Chase's face flashed before his eyes. He growled in his mind, but couldn't get the image out. He turned his face and kissed Piper on the cheek. "I had a great time today, maybe we can hang out sometime!" Piper's face twisted with something, if it wasn't rage, remarkably similar. She twisted her face back into a smile-like thing, but to Percy it looked more like a snake's grimace. Okay. Text me if you ever get the chance!" "Will do, bye!" Percy almost ran out of there. Two blocks up, he suddenly realized that he had left his beanie at the restaurant. Dreading running into Piper Maclean, Percy crept around corner that led to the alley that the back of the restaurant led to warily. And well that he did so. Peeking around the corner (just picture that scene for me, friends, and have a nice laugh), Percy saw Piper talking on her phone. "Yeah, Percy Jackson. Yeah, THE Percy Jackson. I tried to get him to kiss me. Yeah, you know, kiss becomes making out, making out becomes me going over to his house, and that becomes, well, you know. I get his kid, I also then get his money. Yeah, I know they say he's not into anything like that until he's married but once we get to his house, what's he going do?" There was a pause. "I honestly don't know why he stopped going in for the kiss. I could see he was going to do it, but at the last second he pull aborted the kiss mission. Oh well, I tried. I'll find another rich guy soon enough. I'll call you later." Percy pressed himself to the wall behind him as Piper stormed past him, not even glancing at him. Percy retrieved his beanie, and headed home, breathing a sigh of relief for having avoided Piper. "Whaddaya know? My first gold digger!" But the moment he opened his computer, he forgot all about Piper Maclean. There was the " AnnabethChase" tweet. Percy breathed deeply, paused for a second, and decided to take a chance. He "followed" Annabeth, and sent a message.


	3. I'm Already Here

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO in any way, form, or manner.

A/N: I'd like to finally give thanks to SetFiresJust2WatchThemBurn for helping write this story, now thanking her on the front page! This story originally had a lot of influence from one I had read back as a freshman in highschool, but as the story advances, it very much becomes more and more my own and SetFires'. I love that y'all love my story, so keep the comments and P.M.s coming! all support is appreciated! For the "selfie" of Percy Jackson, look at the drawing done by incredibru on Deviant Art put under "Percy Jackson Underwater Selfie". Check him out!

Annabeth's POV

"He texted me!"

"Who?"

"Percy Jackson!"

"What!?"

"I bet he's pissed. I TOLD you not to post that video!"

"Well, see what he texts first. Maybe he's not that mad…"

Annabeth picked up her phone and signed in to answer Percy Jackson's text.

_Percy Jackson: Italics_

Annabeth Chase: Underlined

_PercyJackson*Official*_

_Hi there…_

* * *

AnnabethChase

Umm… hello

* * *

_Are you by any chance the girl who made the cover of my song?_

* * *

Oh gods — I'm so sorry about that. I know I shouldn't have. I know I made mockery of your song with my horrible voice.

* * *

_Mockery?_

_XD_

_U made that song more beautiful and amazeballs than anything I could ever make!_

* * *

I know you're just trying to make me feel better, and thank you, but no more lies please. I've had some cruddy past two months, I'm kind of sick of lies, so please just screw away with that…

Oh jeez, I'm sorry. I just told Percy Jackson to screw away.

Wait a second — How do I know you're the real Percy Jackson?

You could just be screwing me with all this, having a fake account…

* * *

(Percy sends picture of him taking a selfie underwater)

_Do I LOOK like I'm screwing with you?_

* * *

Oh, gods… I knew you liked water, but seriously?

* * *

_***Looks over at this wacko blonde smartarse girl I just started to text***_

_You get comfy with famous peeps prett fast don't u?_

* * *

Pretty*

And yes.

Well, I mean…

* * *

_U mean u thought I'd treat you like scum at the bottom of my foot? And I didn't so now you're not sure how to act so you act aggressively?_

* * *

Well, I did ruin your song.

* * *

_I'll tell you this one more time. You. Did. Not. Ruin. My. Song._

* * *

But…

* * *

_Ya know what? Stay where you are. Your roommate Thalia just sent me your address._

* * *

Annabeth glared over at Thalia, who was reading over her shoulder. Thalia had the good grace to blush the teensiest bit.

What?

* * *

_I'm taking you to the studio with me. We finna record something right NOW._

* * *

We don't even know each other!

* * *

_I've spent the entirety of my recent life on finding you and thinking about your voice and singing ability, so you can just get used to me during the car ride._

_Afterwards, we can go for ice-cream. You like "Ice and Vice", right?_

* * *

What the Tartarus? Have you been stalking me? Isn't it the crazy fans that usually do that?

* * *

_Yeah, I stalked you. You want ice-cream or not?_

* * *

Curses… ice-cream. Annabeth's favorite food group… (Even though she knew that scientifically ice-cream was in fact NOT a food group, but a mix of components of them). She felt her willpower begin to crumble.

…

Yes.

* * *

_I'm three-quarters of the way there_

* * *

I hadn't even said "yes" until 15 seconds ago!

* * *

_No girl can say no to ice-cream. Especially not you._

* * *

Annabeth almost smiled for a second. Then she looked at herself. Ratty T-shirt, ripped jeans, mussed up hair, flip-flops. "Oh, gods. I need to get ready!" She ran to the bathroom and began turning on the hair-straightener, Thalia just watching her with an amused smile. "I need to- I need to-"

_I'm here._

* * *

What? How?

* * *

_I may have run a couple of red lights. I can afford 'em_

* * *

Annabeth showed Thalia the texts. Thalia grinned and, without a moment's hesitation, began to push Annabeth out of the apartment and into the elevator. Then she stepped out of it. "Love you, boo! And have fun!" Annabeth tried to stop the elevator doors, but they closed just in time to stop her from escaping. Annabeth stood quietly fuming for a second, and then the inevitable happened. The explosion. "THALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Thalia's POV

On the landing for their apartment, Thalia heard a faint yell and chuckled. The elevator doors opened right to where anyone parked in front could see. Annabeth would have no choice but to continue through with the date. A date with THE Percy Jackson? The perfect way to forget about that scum-bucket Luke. "No," She told herself, "he is 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' And Annabeth won't just forget his name, I swear upon Artemis that she'll forget everything about him." She grinned once again, went into the apartment, and turned on the T.V. — Now all she had to do was watch Netflix and wait for the magic to happen.

I'm down on ground level.

* * *

_I know. I'm waving at you._

* * *

Percy's POV

Percy looked at Annabeth for the first time in person. She was beautiful. Peeking out at him from under the wild mass of hair covering her face, her entire body still managed to radiate creativity and wit. She was dressed in a T-shirt with half of it covered in paint, a pair of naturally torn jeans, and was wearing flip-flops. FLIP-FLOPS! That just made Percy fall for the type of person she was even more. He opened the car door and waved her towards the inside of the car. "You ready?"

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! Leave a comment about what you liked and what we could do better in the story! On a side note, was this chapter easy enough to read and understand? I know a lot of line breaks can be confusing. If that was annoying, please tell me so I can try to do better! Thanks, guys!


	4. New Dreams and Old Daymares

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN PJO, OKAY? FORKIN' RIORDAN, WATCH HIM SUE ME THE MOMENT I FORGET TO WRITE THE DISCLAIMER -_-

A/N: On a happier side note: SetFires, you are an amazing person and an even better muse. I don't know where I'd be or what the Tartarus I'd be doing with this story if it wasn't for you. Thank you. So, a little depression in this chapter, folks. I wanted to do so much more, but even though I love you peeps it's like 1:17 a.m., and I don't love you THAT much. Sorry. I already have the next chapter planned out, so I'll make it up to you somehow, dudes and dudettes. Next two chapters will contain songs! One of Epiphany's and one of NF's, so get pumped! Finally, there's the matter of reviews. Pleaaaaase review, guys! I love that you guys follow and favorite this, but for me to know what the people want, the people gotta TELL me, am I right? Yes, I am (just in case you were starting to actually think). Okay, I've held you up enough, I love you guys (though mostly and more importantly girls), and dive into dese words, peeple!

Annabeth's POV

Annabeth felt like she was about to keel over and die. Percy Jackson- THE Percy Jackson- was holding a car door open with raised eyebrows and sea-green eyes like the ocean after a storm. Not that she really had that bad of a crush on him. Absolutely not. Now the storm in her was calming, and finally, settling. Controlled chaos. Annabeth stumbled towards him, tripped over the sidewalk, and nearly went sprawling. She had already braced for impact when she landed in a pair of arms strong with lean muscle and sinew, her head still snapping against the car from the imbalance. Her breath caught in her throat and she glanced up into remarkable pools of roiling dark aquamarine. "You okay?" Percy Jackson asked, voice kissed by sea-breezes and sprays of salt. He smiled a slightly sardonic grin — Cheshire cat style. "Usually girls don't trip and bump into me by accident…" She raised her face to make a snarky comment — and that's when her whole world faded to black.

Percy's POV

First attempt at a date and The Girl was already fainting into his arms. "I literally could not have asked for that go any better," He thought. "I should also really stop thinking of her as 'The Girl' though, because that is REALLY sexist." He looked at Annabeth's body, inert in his arms. "Annabeth, I stumbled over you, so it's only right that you trip over me." Then he commented to myself, "Oh great, now I'm talking to people who aren't even conscious! Fantastic! I'm hopeless." 

Annabeth's POV  
When Annabeth next opened her eyes, she was in a room painted with murals of the Californian coast. "Where am I?" She thought dizzily. Blinking blearily, she sat up and stretched. Or at least… she tried to.  
"Oh, sorry!" Someone exclaimed from somewhere off to her left. "That's just my cat. Hobbes, ya punk, cm'ere!" A tanned pair of hands came into view, and the weight on her chest lifted. Said weight let out an indignant caterwaul, and was promptly dropped to the carpeted floor. Several curses that were definitely not English — or any other human language, for that matter, floated towards her. This time, when she sat up, she was able to manage it. Only to bang her elbow on the bedside table. She let out a yelp, along with the word, "Sorry!"  
"What?"  
"Oh." Annabeth blushed furiously. "I was just talking to the-" she froze. An international artist and singer was sitting in a chair on the left side of her bed, pens and paper scattered all around him, and she had just bonked his table. His hair was rumpled, and he was wearing a crinkled t-shirt and jeans. A bead necklace was around his throat, and his sleeves were rolled up to expose the tattoo on his arm: SPQR, with a single line beneath, as well as a trident.  
Percy Jackson raised his eyebrows at her and asked, "What should I be more concerned about? Your elbow or my table? Table-poo, are you okay honey? Did the nasty blond girl bonk her elbow into you? Oh, I'm sorry, I knowwww…"

Annabeth hid a smile, and Percy looked at her. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to say something?"

"What do you mean?" "I believe, madam, that you owe my poor table an apology." Annabeth, after a couple of minutes of fighting this, kissed the table and begged for its merciful and kind forgiveness, amidst her own peals of laughter. She still couldn't believe she was kissing Percy Jackson's table. At his apartment. Once she finally stopped laughing, she brushed her hair out of her face and glanced at Percy, who was frowning at her. "Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?"

Percy's POV  
Gods of Olympus, she was beautiful.

"Wait, she just said something…" He realized dully.

"Oops! I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Annabeth's POV

He had just zoned out. She hadn't done anything wrong, and was very relieved. Why was she so relieved? She never cared what others cared of her before, so why now? The rest of the day was fairly simple. Percy went out and bought about ten million one-liter ice-creams filled to the brim with Rocky Road, Annabeth's favorite. They then watched the first two seasons of "Stranger Things" over again to get hyped for the third season that was coming, and ate a lot of microwaveable chilaquiles and enchiladas — which Percy had gotten hooked on after going on a tour to Mexico. His mother had been Mexican, so Percy knew how to speak Spanish, and even rapped and sung in it sometimes.

(De hecho, para todos mis herman s Latin s, mucho amor para ustedes, y porfis voten de nuevo para AMLO. Muah!)

It was 12:00 p.m., and they were just getting started. Annabeth couldn't stop wondering how she had even arrived at this moment in the first point. They began watching "The Good Place", and at one point during the ads, one for the news came on, speaking for thirty seconds about some rando guy who had died due to gang fights. "Wait," Percy said to Annabeth, "Go to the news real quick." Annabeth complied, and they watched the entire story. It turned out the man was a gang member under the name of Posaedonás Jackson, or Aedas, had been killed by a rival gang at the age of 46. Annabeth commented on how strange it was that this man would have the same last name as Percy, and Percy laughed and agreed.

They continued to watch "The Good Place", and finished the first season. A couple seconds later, Percy went to the bathroom. He didn't come out for half an hour, so Annabeth went to check on him. She could hear the shower was on, and puzzled, Annabeth peeked into the bathroom. Percy Jackson stood, with all his clothes on, in the middle of the shower. Water was soaking in to him, but he didn't even seem to notice it as he sobbed with his back to the door. Pounding his fist into the wall, his whole body began to shake and tremble like an animal who is afraid of pain that is about to be inflicted upon it.

Annabeth didn't know what to do, so she just stood in the same place in shock. Percy finally turned around, and seeing Annabeth, he attempted to close the curtains for the shower. Finally slamming them closed, hiding him from Annabeth's sight, Percy talked. "Please get out. I'll be right there to continue the show with you." "I can't do that. You didn't look so good." "I'm okay, I'll be right out. Please leave." Annabeth considered striding into the bathroom, ripping the curtains apart, and demanding an explanation — but that tactic would obviously be useless, so she quietly crept out of the bathroom.

About fifteen minutes later, Percy came in and sat next to Annabeth, with barely a trace of the tears cried in the bathroom across his face. "Percy, are you-?" "I was seven years old." "What?"

"I was seven years old. My father had recently gotten into a pattern of drinking, but he would only beat my mother, so I never heard or saw anything to cause me to fear for myself. So, when my father walked in with that knife, I had no idea what he was about to do. That night was the first of a long list of beatings. I still have the scars, in fact. At the age of twelve, my father left me and my mother for some floozy he didn't even last half a year with." He had started crying again. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Maybe I shouldn't, but I've never been one for following rules." He tried to give her a weak grin, but it faltered as soon as he had pasted it on.

I haven't seen or heard of my father for the past seven years. Until tonight, on the news channel. That man is-, was, my father, and he's dead. I don't even know how to feel. I want to cry but I'm happy as well. I love him, but I never hurt him, and he would cut me deep, both literally and figuratively. Annabeth pointed at his back. "Can I see?" He nodded dejectedly. She raised the back part of his shirt, and found his back crisscrossed with brutally deep scars, clearly from a sharp instrument. She let his shirt slide back down, and just sat down with Percy in silence. She looked at him after what felt like an eternity, and told him: "You know what helps when I'm suffering through something hard?

Percy looked at her, his blue eyes trying to drown the pain. 'Writing music." "Tartarus yes, so now you're going to write a song." Percy looked at her. "Only if you're a part of it."

A/N: So? Thoughts? Reviews? I sound like an addict or a YouTuber… jeez… I am so, SO sorry.


	5. A Misspeak and a Misstep

Disclaimer: I do not own Seaweed-Brain, Wise-Girl, or any PJO people. With the state their lives are in right now, I don't feel so bad about it tho.

A/N(or intro): Sorry for the delay guys, had to make this one as good as possible. Feel free to tell me about the mistakes you noticed, so I can improve. SetFires, you absolute angel from Heaven, thank you for writing my basic Annabeth POV. Thanks to all the readers who comment, I hope you enjoyed this kind of packed chapter! For those of you who didn't comment, I still love you but slightly less ;) jkjkjk my dudes. Keep reading, keep enjoying, keep commenting! Enjoy!

Third Person POV

Percy had a studio at the back of his apartment, so he just stumbled into there, Annabeth following. Half an hour later, they had a song. Percy set up a microphone for Annabeth, and they began to sing.

(Mansion, by NF, with Annabeth singing Fleurie's part)

Annabeth/Fleurie:

Insidious is blind inception  
What's reality with all these questions?  
Feels like I missed my alarm and slept in (slept in)  
Broken legs but I chase perfection  
These walls are my blank expression  
My mind is a home I'm trapped in  
And it's lonely inside this mansion

Percy/NF:

Yo, my mind is a house with walls covered in lyrics, they're all over the place  
There's songs in the mirrors written all over the floors, all over the chairs  
And you get the uncut version of life when I go downstairs  
That's where I write when I'm in a bad place and need to release  
And let out the version of NF you don't want to see  
I put holes in the walls with both of my fists 'til they bleed  
You might get a glimpse of how I cope with all this anger in me  
Physically abused, now that's the room that I don't want to be in  
That picture ain't blurry at all, I just don't want to see it  
And these walls ain't blank, I just think I don't want to see 'em  
But why not? I'm in here, so I might as well read 'em  
I gotta thank you for this anger that I carry around  
Wish I could take a match and burn this whole room to the ground  
Matter of fact I think I'ma burn this room right now  
So now this memory for some reason just won't come down  
You used to put me in the corner, so you could see the fear in my eyes  
Then took me downstairs and beat me 'til I screamed and I cried  
Congratulations, you'll always have a room in my mind  
But I'ma keep the door shut and lock the lyrics inside

Annabeth/Fleurie:

Insidious is blind inception  
What's reality with all these questions?  
Feels like I missed my alarm and slept in (slept in)  
And slept in  
Broken legs but I chase perfection  
These walls are my blank expression  
My mind is a home I'm trapped in  
And it's lonely inside this mansion  
Inside this mansion

Percy/NF:

Yo my mind is a house with walls covered in pain  
See, my problem is I don't fix things, I just try to repaint  
Cover em up, like it never happened  
Say I wish I could change, are you confused?  
Come upstairs and I'll show you what I mean  
This room's full of regrets, just keeps getting fuller it seems  
The moment I walk in to it is the same moment that I wanna leave  
I get sick to my stomach every time I look at these things  
But it's hard to look past when this is the room where I sleep  
I look around, one of the worst things I wrote on these walls  
Was the moment I realized that I was losing my mom  
And one of the first things I wrote was I wish I would have called  
But I should just stop now, we ain't got enough room in this song  
And I regret the fact that I struggled trying to find who I am  
And I lie to myself and say I do the best that I can  
Shrug it off like it ain't nothing like it's out of my hands  
Then get ticked off whenever I see it affecting my plans  
And I regret watching these trust issues eat me alive  
And at the rate I'm going they'll probably still be there when I die  
Congratulations, you'll always have a room in my mind  
The question is, will I ever clean the walls off in time?

Annabeth/Fleurie:

Insidious is blind inception  
What's reality with all these questions?  
Feels like I missed my alarm and slept in (slept in)  
And slept in  
Broken legs but I chase perfection  
These walls are my blank expression  
My mind is a home I'm trapped in  
And it's lonely inside this mansion  
Inside this mansion

Percy/NF:

So this part of my house, no one's been in it for years  
I built the safe room and I don't let no one in there  
'Cause if I do, there's a chance that they might disappear and not come back  
And I admit I am emotionally scared to let anyone inside  
So I just leave my doors locked  
You might get other doors to open up but this door's not  
'Cause I don't want you to have the opportunity to hurt me  
And I'll be the only person that I can blame when you desert me  
I'm barricaded inside so stop watching  
I'm not coming to the door so stop knocking, stop knocking  
I'm trapped here, God keeps saying I'm not locked in  
I chose this, I am lost in my own conscience  
I know that shutting the wall down ain't solving the problem  
But I didn't build this house because I thought it would solve 'em  
I built it because I thought that it was safer in there  
But it's not, I'm not the only thing that's living in here  
Fear came to my house years ago, I let him in  
Maybe that's the problem 'cause I've been dealing with this ever since  
I thought that he would leave, but it's obvious he never did  
He must have picked the room and got comfortable and settled in  
Now I'm in the position it's either sit here and let him win  
Or put him back outside where he came from, but I never can  
'Cause in order to do that I'd have to open the doors  
Is that me or the fear talking?  
I don't know anymore

All together:

Lonely (lonely) it's lonely  
Oh yeah, it's lonely  
Inside this mansion

(END OF SONG)

Third Person POV

Percy looked over at Annabeth, his melancholy expression receding a little at the end of the song. She smiled back at him. "Better?" "Always." "You know," Annabeth told him, "My mother never beat me, but she left my father and I when I was nine. I know how you feel." "Really?" "Yeah. Them my dad got into debt, so I finished college at the age of 18 and got full scholarships so he wouldn't have to suffer." "What do you do as a job?" "I do accounting. Where did you go to college?"

"I didn't. Music is apparently a full-time thing and I'm not allowed to do anything that gets in music's way." "Not allowed? What do you mean?" "I'm not my own man, to put it that way. I'm controlled by dozens of people who manage me." "That's it, we're doing something not allowed, right now." "No we can't! I'll be so screwed if I'm caught!" "Let's GO!" "What happened to the uptight nerd girl?" "What happened to the fun-loving devil-may-care jock guy?" He sighed. "Fine." "We'll have to stop by my place to get aerosol cans for the graffiti." "Oka- WAIT, WHAT?"

Annabeth's POV

Annabeth laughs. For the first time in what feels like months. She hadn't laughed like that since... him. She barely held in her flinch at even the mere thought of his name. Percy is gawking at her, those remarkable eyes filled with light and laughter. She raises an eyebrow. "Got a problem with graffiti?"  
Percy just gaped at her. "I-you-we- no!" he finally got out. At this, Annabeth's eyebrow crawls impossibly higher. "I just really want to be able to do that."  
"What, graffiti?"  
"No!" Percy waves his hands in front of himself wildly. "No, definitely not. Who, me? No, I just wanna do the…the…" he gestured at his eyebrows. Annabeth's left eyebrow joins her other. "You want to learn how to raise your eyebrows?"  
Percy drops his head into his hands. "Screw me," he mourns, before his head snaps back up. "No, no, wait, I didn't mean it like that, don't actually screw me, although I probably wouldn't mind that sometime in the future." Annabeth's eyebrows began raising. "Oh my gods, did I just really say that out loud-?" He's cut off by Annabeth's stomach. Growling. Embarrassingly loud. Percy recovers quickly and snickers. "You hungry?" Too mortified to speak, and not quite trusting her open voice, (Percy Jackson had said- he'd said-) Annabeth only nods.  
"Great!" Percy claps his hands. "Let's order pizza!" This time, it's Annabeth's turn to gape. "You, Percy Jackson, who's popular as hell and has had his newest single at the top of the charts for over a month, wants to order this random girl he's just met and cried with pizza? On their first hangout sesh-slash-date, no less? Just pizza?" Percy's ocean-hued eyes have gone wide, jaw hanging, showing off perfectly white teeth like pearls fresh from the depths of the sea. Had she said something? She mentally reviewed her sentence and nearly dropped dead of- mortification couldn't even begin to cover what she felt. Date. She'd talked about it being a date. And they'd known each other for a grand total of 18 hours, 28 minutes and... well, a number of seconds that were below sixty. Date. The word echoed in her mind. Date, date, date. "Well," Percy managed. "Good to know you're still feeling comfortable with me, Wise-Girl."

Percy POV

The mood was a little ruined after the awkwardness of that, so they decided to take a couple quick pictures of their art and then head back to their respective apartments. Percy drove Annabeth to her apartment. After first trying to hug (failing), then shake hands (failing), they did an uncomfortable high-five and Annabeth headed up to her apartment while Percy drove home. On his way there, he received various texts from a friend inviting him to a party. Diverging from his original path, Percy drove in the direction he had been given. He felt furious at himself and at Annabeth for making him feel the way he did. He had never been so awkward around a girl, so uncomfortable yet comfortable at the same time, so non-suave. What was wrong with him around Annabeth? Arriving at the party, he decided to forget Annabeth the best way possible — drinking and partying.

(quick A/N: I'm Christian, so I'm writing this as if Percy was pretty much a Christian. I couldn't do it perfectly, since it's "gods" officially in the PJO stories, but the point is that he's leading a Christian life, but even the most famous people — screw that, ESPECIALLY the famous people — can fall and we need forgiveness, and it's wrong. I'm just showing this so y'all can see how awful acting this way can be and the terrible consequences it can bring.

Annabeth POV

As soon as Annabeth opened her apartment door, Thalia Grace threw herself at her. "You're back! How did the date go!?" Annabeth blushed. "It wasn't a date, we just hung out." "Till 4:00 a.m.? Girl you trippin'." "It really wasn't." "Oh, I'm sure it- oh." "What?" "I guess you were right." Thalia passed her phone over to Annabeth. Annabeth watched for three seconds, swallowed — her lips beginning to tremble — and dropped the phone. "Annabe-" "I'm going to bed." "Annabeth!" "I SAID, I'm going to bed!" Annabeth answered, and walked into her room, slamming the door.

Thalia POV

Thalia could have sworn she could hear sobbing on the other side of the door. Picking her phone up, she saw, who else, Percy Jackson. Not by himself, however. The video was a long loop, playing repeatedly, showing Percy Jackson kissing a woman. No, it wasn't kissing, it was full on lip-locking. Thalia swiped out of the feed, and threw her camera at the couch in absolute disgust. So much for an excellent afternoon date.

A/N: Oof… Percy… how you gon' do Wise-Girl like that? Well, let's find out what excuses he makes next to excuse his atrocious behavior! Hopefully next chapter comes out by Wednesday afternoon. Prayers for all of you! PEACE!


	6. Karma's a- female dog Heh

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of his problem-filled drama queen characters.

Intro: Bad news at the end, but just enjoy the story first (Bet ya you just went down to see XD). I know this chapter is a little short, but more than anything its purpose is to set up for the following chapters. R&R, and much love to all of you! Especially those of you who actually take the time to review (I'm looking at 70% of you -_-). Share the story and enjoy!

Thalia POV

There was a knock at the door. Thalia opened the door, and saw Percy Jackson standing there, hands in his pockets. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey! Is Annabeth there?"

"No, I'm not!" Annabeth called out from her room.

Thalia looked at Percy and repeated it. "No, she isn't." She then slammed the door in Percy's face. Immediately, Percy started knocking loudly once again.

"Thalia, I know she's there! I heard her! Why doesn't she want to see me?"

Thalia tried to ignore him, but after hearing Percy repeat his line various times, she couldn't stand it. She yanked the door open, pushed her cellphone with the saved video of last night on it showing at Percy and hissed "THIS is why."

Percy looked with confusion at the phone, and then his face fell. "Oh. But why is she pissed at me?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Why d'ya think?"

"I don't know! My romantic life is my own business! I didn't involve her! That doesn't affect her!"

Thalia, her voice shaking with fury, whispered to him, "Tell that to her sobbing face. She doesn't want to leave bed because of you! You led her on!"

"I didn't! I- I- I don't know why that hurt her!"

"My ass you don't. I'm going to let you in, and you're going to apologize to Annabeth the moment you get the chance. Understood?

He nodded.

"Good."

Percy walked in, and Thalia pointed him towards Annabeth's room. He opened the door, and saw the pile of blankets that surrounded Annabeth.

"Hey, are you-?"

Annabeth burst out of her little cocoon, and slapped him. "Percy Jackson! You self-important, self-engrossed jerky piece of garbage!"

"What did I do?"

"How could you?"

"How could I what?"

"You just went and… and… did that with that girl!"

"We just kissed! Intensely. For a long time. And she may have come over to my house. But besides that, nothing happened! And what right do YOU have to judge me? We're not even in a relationship. Do you think you have some sort of possession over me? I had you over, but that doesn't mean anything. I was going to apologize to you for being so careless about my relationships and maybe leading you on, but if you're going to act like this…"

That was when Annabeth threw her pillow at him. "I don't need your fake apologies! Get OUT!"

Percy obliged, leaving the apartment and slamming the door behind him.

Percy POV

"Gods help me." He got into the car, dropped his face into his hands, and decided to go to the music studio. Once he got there, he ran into the building, turned the mic on, and just started singing.

(Kendo Kaponi, "Ya Te Perdí")

Me duele verte ir  
Pero más me duele no poderte seguir  
No sabes cuánto amor me costará dejarte ir  
Me dolió verte sufrir  
Y más porque sabía que todo era por mi  
Por las veces que pospuse  
No detenerme solamente segundos  
Y intentar remendar esas  
Heridas que por años te lastimaron  
Y te deje ir

Porque se que mereces algo mucho mejor que yo  
Porque se que estabas cansada de creerme  
Y yo cansado de fingir  
Que yo era esa persona  
Por la que esperaste toda tu vida  
Te deje ir  
Porque te vi sufrir tanto que me costaba mirar  
Como te autodestruía buscando  
Si venía de ti la falla  
Por la que nuestro amor no estaba funcionando  
Y te deje ir  
Porque la vida es una  
Porque el tiempo no regresa  
Porque vi como desperdicias te toda tu juventud  
Porque veo como desperdicias tu fe  
Te deje ir porque yo no pudiera soportar  
Ver que mueras a mi lado  
Yo siempre teniendo claro  
Que mereciste algo mejor que yo  
El amor persiste  
Y gracias por creer todos estos años  
En algo que ni siquiera existe  
Yo...

Yo sé que no vas a volver  
Y que fui yo quien te falle  
Perdona no te supe amar  
Y ahora no puedo al verte con él  
No valore todo lo que hacías  
Por mi siempre te la bebías  
Me duele verte con otro  
Cuidándote como yo debía

Yo sé que no vas a volver  
Y que fui yo quien te falle  
Perdona no te supe amar  
Y ahora no puedo al verte con él  
No valore todo lo que hacías  
Por mi siempre te la bebías  
Me duele verte pensando quizá sobre otro  
Cuidándote como yo debía…

He sighed, and laid his head on his guitar.

Annabeth POV

She had cried herself to sleep, and then woken up. Then she had cried herself back to sleep. When she finally woke up and stayed awake, she began thinking about everything that had gone down. She sighed, and laid her head down on her pillow.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter guys, I'm travelling for the next month or two. Once school starts I may actually have more time 😂(Imagine that). I'll check with SetFires to see if she wants to do the writing and pass it to me so I can update really quick if I get the chance. If I can' then this will be on hiatus until I get back from travelling. Love you guys and I'm sorry for this whole hiatus thing, I promise I won't abandon this story. Please R&R and tell us what you would like to see so we can make the story better! Ginger OUT! 


	7. The Cocoon Of Love

It's here! Sorry for taking so long my dudes, travel is a female dog. Much love, please R&R! 99% of the work was done by SetFires, so check her out and send some love on fictionpad to her new stories! 

Annabeth still stared at the door long after Percy Jackson had left. He had been knocking on their door earlier that afternoon, and she was still pissed about it.  
"Hey!" Percy had called, pleasant as you please, "Is Annabeth there?"  
"No, I'm not!" Annabeth had yelled back, before burying her face back in her pillow. Then she figured out it was wet and tasted like salt, so she resorted to wrapping herself up in a cocoon of blankets.  
"No, she isn't." She heard Thalia tell the singer, before slamming the door in his face. And then he'd kept knocking. He'd yelled something- repeatedly- and her roommate had finally caved, letting him in. Percy had come in only moments later, and that ice in Annabeth's chest had turned to blazing hot fire. She'd surged out of her pile of blankets and slapped him. Hard. Her palm stung, but gods of Olympus, it had felt good to do that. "Percy Jackson!" She remembered screeching at him. "You self-important, self-engrossed, jerky piece of garbage!" She may or may not have added a few more colorful adjectives and pronouns in there, but she didn't want to think about that right now. Percy had seemed genuinely confused about her behavior, even going so far as to ask why. That had been the start of it. She'd tried to explain it to him, she really had, but he had thrown it back in her face and treated her like a scorned 12-year-old. "...if you're going to act like this…"

"Hello? Anyone home? Annabeth?" Annabeth could hear Thalia outside of her cocoon. "I'm in my cocoon of sadness. Everyone in this cocoon loves me…" She muttered.  
"Are you going to keep staring at the wall or come with me to get ice cream?" Thalia asked suddenly, and Annabeth jolted.  
"What?"  
"Ice cream. Cold, tasty, bad for your health?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Nor right now, Thalia." The brunette gaped at her. "Annabeth, you're never said no to ice cream. What in Tartarus is wrong with you?"  
"Gee, I don't know!" Annabeth snapped. "Maybe it's because Percy Jackson started dating me, and then goes off and freaking has sex with another girl!"  
Thalia shook her head, earrings jangling. The noise was jarring in the sudden quiet. "Girl, you've got it bad."  
Annabeth bristled. "I do not-"  
"You've been thoroughly and devastatingly wrecked." Thalia said, gentler this time. "Annabeth, you've fallen, and you've fallen hard."  
Annabeth began trembling. "But Luke-"  
"Didn't love you." Thalia fills in. "He cheated on you and deserves a good kick in the place where the sun don't shine. I'm glad you've moved on this quickly"  
"But then Percy doesn't love me either!" Annabeth counters. "He cheated on me too, Thalia."  
Her friend opened her mouth. Closed it again. Finally, "All Luke did was dump you. Percy came back. Apologized for it. And to be fair, he invited you over after meeting you for the first time to hang out. That isn't exactly what I would call a date or a relationship."  
"No, he didn't!" Annabeth snapped. "He wanted to know what he did wrong and why I even cared! He doesn't get it, Thalia. And the fact that he didn't even see it as a date makes it even worse" She looked down. "He doesn't get it." the blonde repeated miserably, and hid back into her cocoon of love.

Then she got an alert on her phone.

PercyJackson: Are U there? I was a jerk. I'm sorry. I promise nothing… immodest happened between me and that girl.

Annabeth sighed, set her phone on airplane mode, and put it to the side. She had a headache — she couldn't handle this right now.


	8. Nibs And Her Plain Drinks

Disclaimer: DO I FORKIN' LOOK LIKE RICK RIORDAN? I THOUGHT NOT.

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long. But as a favor and an apology begging for your forgiveness, this chapter is like 2 or 3 times as long as all my previous ones, and I'm already working on the next chapter. Love you guys, please share and R&R!

Annabeth's POV:  
Okay, she was done with this. She was Annabeth frickin' Chase, and wasn't going to lie around in her love cocoon for a punk who never even liked her. She was going to get up THIS VERY INSTANT! However... the bed was kind of ridiculously comfortable. Annabeth viewed her debate with herself as a series of texts.

***Annabeth has joined the chat***  
***Annabeth's Brain has joined the chat***  
Brain: Let's get up! We can go work on our plans for the internship application for the architecture program!  
Annabeth: Yes! I'm gonna leap out of my pitiful misery and do something productive!  
***Annabeth's Body has joined the chat***  
Body: But the cocoon of love is just so waaaaaaaarm...  
Annabeth: true...  
Brain: NO! No more laying around in self-pity, girl! You need to get up and forget all about this awful day you had. Stewing in self-pity is just going to make everything worse, okay?  
Body: Orrrrr we could use the pity to get Thalia to make us cookies and buy us ice-cream.  
Brain: That's wrong. Plus, how would we get her to do it?  
Body: I dunno! That's your job. But I want cookies. And ice-cream! NOW!  
Brain: You, my dear Body, are ridiculous. As much as you would enjoy ice-cream, there is a high statistical probability that it will freeze me! Where is the benefit for me!  
Body: you don't need benefit! I'm the important one! You don't matter.  
Brain: HOW DARE YOU!? TAKE THAT BACK! I'm important!  
Body: IM THE ONE THAT GETS HER MOVING AROUND!  
Brain: I'M THE ONE WHO MOTIVATES YOU AND GETS YOU MOVING!  
Annabeth: guys, let's chill out for a seco-  
Body: Oh yeah?  
Brain: Yeah.  
Body: Tell that to the STOMACH, nitwit!  
***Bladder has joined chat***  
Bladder: guys? I hate to intrude but...  
Brain: Oh, no.  
Body: ya know what, Brain? U win. But just cause I gotta go to the bathroom really bad. Quick! Come on let's go! Run to the bathroom! AAAAAAAAAH!  
***Annabeth's Body has left chat***  
***Annabeth has left chat***  
***Annabeth's Bladder has left chat***  
Brain: Honestly... sometimes I think I'm the only one who thinks in this relationship.  
***Annabeth's Brain has left chat***

Annabeth leapt out of bed and rushed to the bathroom without even pausing to think, slamming the door as she barreled in.

7 minutes and a whole world of relief later, Annabeth walked out of the services.

"Well," She thought, "No avoiding it now, I have to stay up." She strode into her room, threw the first shirt and pair of sweats she saw on, grabbed her purse and her keys, and walked out of the apartment. Confidently, she headed towards a coffee shop that had saved her grades more than a few times in college, seeing as it was open 24/7 and didn't care what you ordered or how long you stayed — as long as you were quiet.

As she approached the counter, the barista (A girl who was now on more-than-a-first-name basis and actually quite an interesting person, named Hazel) greeted her.

"Hey Nibs! The usual?"

"You know it, Haze."

"One plain vanilla Frappuccino coming up, bae!"

Having received her deliciously plain beverage of choice, Annabeth sat down in a corner to avoid human contact as much as possible. Just as luck would have it though, the moment she sat down a random Latino guy walked up to her.

"Oye nena, quiubole? Oye, conoces la barrista? Es bien guapa, no? Y adema-"

She looked up at him, a more than a little confused. He wasn't terrifying or anything — in fact, he looked kind of adorable. He looked short, around 5'4, and had a straight (though slightly upturned) nose. His eyes sparkled with stifled wit, and his smile was the type of smile that seemed to tell everyone "yo dudes, I'm chill, let's hang out! Maybe prank someone! But have fun, yeah!". He had fairly dark brown skin, pointy ears, and black hair. Skinny would probably to describe him, though by no means malnourished. Taking this all in within half a second, she decided to answer him. "I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what you just said."

He grinned at her. "The barista. She's cute. Do you know her?"

"I know HER, but I definitely DON'T know YOU."

"Well hi. Name's Leo. Nice to meet you. Now, on to the important stuff. Can you set me up with the barista?"

"Do you even know her name?"

"Bethany?"

"What?"

"Joking, it's obviously Gertrude."

"It's Hazel. How do you not know her name?"

"I was close."

"You really weren't. Her name is Hazel, you called her Gertrude."

"Tom-ae-to to-mah-to. Same difference."

"You're hopeless. I don't even know you and I can already tell you're hopeless."

"Well then give me a hope! Pleaaaaaaase? Come on! We've been friends for an entire-" he looked at his watch- "Minute and 16 seconds! Do me a favor?"

Annabeth his a smile. She had to give it to him, the guy was low-key side-splitting. "Fine. I'll introduce you, for all the good it'll do you."

"Yessssssss!" He hugged her. Before she could tell him to get off, he jumped up and waited for her to get up anxiously.

"Like a little dog wanting to go for a walk" Annabeth thought, snickering to her insides. She grabbed the guy — Leo — and pulled him to the bar. "Hazy? This is Leo. Leo? Hazy. Now talk to her." She stepped to her table, avidly watching while attempting to appear as though she was studiously working.

Hazel looked confused. "Uh, hi?"

He struggled with his pocket for a second. "Hi. Annabelle over there said you're good with technology, can you help me fix this?"

"Well, um, first of all, her name is Annabeth, and second off, I'm not really that good but maybe I can help you?"

Annabeth grinned. Poor sweet Hazel, willing to help anyone. She still kept an attentive ear to the conversation, however, because even she didn't know where Leo was going with this. Then she saw Hazel grabbed Leo's phone and looked at it.

"I can't see anything broken. What's wrong with your phone?"

He smiled cheekily at her for a second. "It doesn't have your number, can you fix that?"

Three things happened in quick succession.  
1.- Annabeth's jaw dropped [thought] "Oh no he did NOT just-".  
2.- Hazel stared mutely at Leo.  
3.- Hazel exploded with laughter.

"Yeah, I can fix that. Unlock your phone." She typed her number in, and had him call her to make sure it worked. She had to take a shift in the back, but she told him to text her.

Annabeth was still mute. [thought] "What just happened?"

Leo slid into the seat in front of her. "It worked! My friend Percy told me it would every time, but I didn't believe him. Wow. It seriously does."

Annabeth froze for a second. "Wait, Percy? As in Percy Jackson? As in THE Percy Jackson? How do you even know Percy?"

Leo looked sheepish. "Well, I'm his beats editor, and we began... Oops. I mean, I don't know what you're talking about!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrow.

"Ugh, I wasn't supposed to- wait." He began muttering to himself. "Blonde, grey eyes, tan, smart, studious, sarcastic... you're THE Annabeth Chase? Percy's Annabeth Chase?"

"You know about me?"

"You're joking. All Percy DOES is talk about you. You ARE that Annabeth, right?"

"I'm not 'Percy's Annabeth', but yeah, that's me. I'm not exactly talking to him though, and we only hung out for a night."

"Yeaaaaah! And then Percy acted like a complete moron and kissed another girl and ruined his chances with you because he was scared that you would hurt him because you were already getting too close!"

She paused. "That's your psychoanalysis of what happened?"

"What's psychowatchamacalit?"

"It's why you think something happened"

"Oh no, haha! That's pretty much just what he told me." He suddenly got very serious. "Percy's gone through some rough crap in his life, I'm telling ya. He told me about going to your apartment. Don't worry!" He said, seeing Annabeth's question form on her lips, "He didn't tell me where. But seriously. The fact that he's making an effort about you? That's special. Don't lose that."  
He began to stand up. "You must have shaken him deep, Anna-whatever-your-name-is-sorry-I-forgot. You really must have."  
He began to head towards the door. "But a piece of advice? Don't make it too easy for him, okay? He needs to fight for SOMETHING nowadays, to remind him of what he makes music for. Real life. Might as well be you he's fighting for. Don't make it too easy."  
He opened the door, and shouted one last thing. "Don't break his heart either, 'aight? Give him a chance. Percy is like a broken window pane — sharp, but if you find some duct-tape, he's good as new. Maybe you're the duct-tape!"

The door slammed behind him, the bells above it gently jingling, a sweet sound in the oppressive silence. Annabeth just leaned back into her chair, shell-shocked.

THIS IS A LINE AND THIS TOO AND THIS

Percy POV

(Narration takes "present" form"

Okay. From the top now.  
Percy sighs. Steps to the mic. And lets loose.

("Lonely" by Epiph ny)  
Wish I could find some love  
Wish I had the courage  
Wish somebody would give me a shove  
But I'm not above  
Being scared  
To be fair  
I know I got some wacky hair  
I'm kinda desperate, sending a prayer  
To heaven  
Looking for love even at my seven-eleven  
I ask for counsel on how to tell a girl I like her  
Kinda jealous of the guys who can "Just go get her"  
Then when I do get a girl I get a text saying  
"Without you I might just be better"  
To all of those of you alone  
This is my letter

Isn't weird  
How much loves feels  
So similar to a loan  
Like a weight that you at once love but makes you groan  
Always scared that you could maybe do better  
And your love always leaves you a debtor  
And you always end up with a dead love  
Dead dove  
Each one of us shoots love in our way  
Some of us pay  
And some treat it like they treat my birthday in May —  
They ignore it and go off with someone else to play

Once had a girl  
I don't think she liked me much  
When I saw her with my friend I wanted to hurl  
I don't think she liked me much  
Don't know why, just call it a hunch  
Kinda wish I had a girl  
To take for a whirl  
Maybe give her a couple pearls  
Who am I kidding? I'm emotionally broke let the lonely flag unfurl  
Let's be honest, the only girl who would go out with me  
Would probably be  
A bar girl, call girl  
No girl to twirl  
Just because I'm me  
And something that society flees  
Is that a breaking heart often hurts more than broken knees  
I've seen  
That a girl will go out with a guy  
Usually depending on how much money she needs  
And I think it's sad that our society is so dependent on greed  
Even for love  
If love was a dove then It was shot a long time ago  
And I don't know whether how we act is below or above  
Morals  
But I'm going to stay by myself, stay alone  
Because I'm scared of affection, scared to show  
I feel like I'm too vulnerable, so my distrust just grows  
And it usually feels like I'm fighting love's flow  
So I suspect I'm going to stay by myself, stay alone  
This, for sure, I can tell you I know...

He steps away, and wipes the tears streaming from his eyes away.

"Okay, I'm done."

"Are you okay, dude?" Asks Jason. Jason. One of the best friends a guy could have, especially if Percy was trying to avoid getting hit on or attract too much attention to himself, because Jason would attract all of it. Jason was handsome. Too handsome. So handsome that Percy was straight but being honest with himself if he was gonna ever go h*** it would be for Jason.

Percy smiles at him. "Yeah, man. Just working through some stuff."

"Her?"

"Her."

"You gotta get past that, my man. Stop moping! Get out there, and if she's so important, keep trying for her! Don't be such a pessimist!"

"Dude, we hung out for one night and she was already getting too close. The last person I let get this close to me was Reyna, and she proved my 'pessimism' to be right. I can't let anybody in so soon after that. Or ever. I just need to forget Annabeth."

Jason laughs incredulously. "My man, all you DO is talk about this girl. The day you forget her is the day I give you a couple hundred bucks! Look. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but you have to at least try for her, make an effort. You know what I mean? Make sure it's more than just a quick random fascination with this girl."

"You promise it'll work out?"

"One way or another bro, it'll work out. At least then you'll know you put effort into it, no matter what may happen."

"Fine. Let's do this."

"Esketiiiiiiiiit!"

Percy aims his microphone dangerously towards Jason's head. "Jason, if you say a single line from a Lil Pump song ever again in front of me I will kill you."

"You wouldn't..."

"Watch me." He grabs his wallet and his phone and starts to walk out of the studio, but crashes into the crazy ball of nervous energy that is Leo. "Yo! Where were you?"

"Dudedudedudedudedude guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?"

"Wha-"

"I-ran-into-Annabeth-you-know-that-girl-who-you-really-like-and-I-accidentally-told-her-that-I-knew-you-and-pleaaaase-don't-kill-me?"

"What? Where was she?"

"Apollo's Coffee House."

"I'm going over there. Don't follow me."

"Umm, okay. We won't," answers Leo "Do tha-" but Percy has already slammed the door behind him and his running is pronouncedly loud. Leo grins at Jason. "We're totally following him. Get your stuff."

Jason looks at him with doubt in his eyes. "But Percy said-"

"Yeah, yeah I know but come ooooon! You're telling me you don't want to know what happens?"

"Well yes, but if Percy-"

"Okay, so that's how it's gonna be. If you don't come with me I'm going to tell that pretty waitress you've been talking to — what's her name? — oh yes, PIPER, about how you've been crushing on her super hard."

"You litttle-"

"You coming?"

"FINE!"

THIS IS A LINE AND SO IS THIS AND THIS AND THIS TOO SO SUCK IT JK LOVE U GUYS

Hazel's POV  
(Resume "past" mode of narration)

The door opened with a massive *bang!* and a bit rushed into the coffee shop. Hazel, back at the front, wasn't fazed. She'd seen people more desperate-looking than this rush in. He was pretty high up there though.

She was surprised, however, when the boy, instead of crazily ordering a strange order of coffee, looked around and headed for Annabeth in the corner. 

Hazel smiled. 

Annabeth. Nibs. She and Hazel had ignored each other for a while, but by an almost imperceptible thawing, they both began to talk to each other. Short sentences at first, but then longer and longer conversations would occur, until Annabeth had one day invited Hazel to her house. It was there that Hazel had come up with Annabeth's nickname: 'Nibs'. Annabeth has a pattern of eating food carefully. Too carefully, in Hazel's opinion. Almost like nibbling. Plus, 'Nibs' sounded like 'Annabeth' if you really thought about it. Annabeth had hated the nickname, but she'd come to accept and even laugh

about it. 

However, Hazel knew that as careful as Annabeth was with her food, she was more careful with her boyfriend choices and who she talked about. Was this guy another boyfriend she hadn't heard about?  
She tried to hear what they were saying, but as they were whispering, she had to focus more and more intensely to hear what they were saying. So intensely, in fact, that she failed to hear the gentle jingle of the bells indicating the door had been opened.

"They're a cute couple, huh?"

Hazel started, and saw that boy she'd given her number to earlier — Leo — she remembered, smiling at her.

"Percy is the MAN, am I right? He's trying to get his fair lady over there to talk to him."

"They aren't dating? I thought he was a new boyfriend or something."

Leo let out a low chuckle. "I bet Percy wishes that was the case, but he partially ruined his chances with her because he was scared she was getting too close to him or some thing like that." He grinned cheekily at hazel and winked. "I, personally, don't see anything wrong about getting a little closer."

Hazel blushed and was trying to gather her senses to answer him somehow (he really was extremely cute), when she heard the boy raise his voice a little.

"Come on, Annabeth! Please! Look, I know I messed up. I know it! I do! I just- I just didn't know if you were going to hurt me like everyone else is. It wasn't your fault at all-"

"Darn right it wasn't," She interjected.

"But please just gonna be me a chance to at least talk to you!" He continued. "We've only known each other for about a day, and I already can't stop thinking about you. I know it's cheesy, I know! But it's the truth."

"Poor boy," Hazel thought, "If and when you get Nibs mad, there's no escaping..."  
And the boy continued. "Percy," Hazel remembered, "His name is Percy. Wait. Percy? Could it be he's-"

"I've never been very good at saying things this way." Percy was saying. "Just- just listen to this." He pulled out his phone, typed something in, and passed it to Annabeth.

Annabeth reluctantly took it, and set her ear to the speakers. After a couple minutes, her face changed. Softened a little. She looked at Percy. "We can talk now." 

TADAAAAAAH!  
It's here guys! I said it would take forever and it did but it's here! What do you think? Little side note: from now on, I'm going to be calling out and responding to people who review in my last chapter, so above all: 

Thanks to Vixen (SetFiresJust2WatchThemBurn) for beta-ing all my crazy chaos of a story, and making sure I get better and better at what I do. Guys, seriously, follow her on fictionpad and check out her story. 

Also thanks to Mia (herecomesthepun) for being an amazing inspiration for this Percabeth. You're amazing, girl! I'm not in love with you — but i AM insanely in love with your writing. 

ReadingReader: Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm working on word choice and chapter creativity, as you suggested, so I really hope you enjoy this. 

nihal: You, my friend, have been a consistent R&R-er, so a big 'ol hug or high five for you (depending on how comfortable you are with an online hug). Thank you for your constant and kind encouragement, as well as the obvious fact that you actually read the stories and are involved. You are now one of my favorite people ever in this world.

Those were just the people who commented on the last chapter or who baeta-ed my story. If you want a mention, just R&R and you'll get it! See ya, guys!


	9. Of Backstories and Nicknames —Plus BREAD

Percy's life was good. He wasn't even going to deny it. His new hit, "Lonely" was trending and he had Annabeth at his side. Well, in less of a close position than he would have liked, but friends was good enough. For now. He was hanging out at home, with Annabeth, when he stumbled across a magazine blog online about him. Who was he to deny the fact that he was awesome? He clicked on the thumbnail.

Rumors confirmed?

Percy Jackson, famous rap artist, released his newest hit single "Lonely" four months ago. The rapper is said to be fairly silent about his private life. However, recent information has come to light: This information reveals that the famous Percy Jackson may have, for the past three months, not been as "Lonely" as it would appear! The following images reveal Percy Jackson, accompanied by an unidentifiable girl in a thick coat with a hoodie on. Who is this girl? The girl's identity is yet to be confirmed, but our staff is working overtime to discover WHO this mystery girl is. Stay tuned for all the newest Percy Jackson news, and keep reading!

Third Person POV  
Percy grinned, looking up from his laptop at Annabeth, who was beside him reading the same magazine blog.

"Look, you're just as famous as I am now!"

She, on the other hand, looked a little worried. "But if people think we're dating just from us hanging out at Apollo's, anything else we do will make people think we're dating even more! This is awful..."

Percy soured up. "You make it sound like such a bad thing for people to think we're dating."

She laughed at his pout. "Oh chill, you baby. I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad, but you know I don't think of you that way."

Percy fixed a smile on his face, and tried to laugh a little. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But... would it really be so bad?"

"Oh, shut up, seaweed brain."

"Seaweed brain? You've done it now, woman. I never should have told you I wanted to be a marine biologist! C'mere!"  
He ran at her, flipped her over his shoulder, and tossed her on the couch. "And let that be a lesson to you, Wise Girl"

She looked up at him. "Hmmmm... Wise Girl... I like that one. So much better than your last one."

"What!? Your hair makes you look exactly like one of those Disney princesses!"

"And I warned you, call me princess one more time and I kick your ass."

"Ahem." Someone stood at the doorway. "You two done arguing like an old married couple?"

Percy jumped up. A dark haired, pale boy stood at the door."Nico! My man! What's up, dude? I assume you still have the keys I gave you? Annabeth, this is Nico, my cousin."

The newcomer was a medium height boy, who seemed to be only a year or two younger than Percy. He had dark black eyes, like the pit of Tartarus. His hair, so raven black it seemed blue, was smoothly combed in a business-like comb-over, and while he wasn't tall, he couldn't exactly be called short, either. Is she was honest with herself, Nico reminded Annabeth of a boy-Thalia.

She gave him a little wave. "Hello there."

Nico gave her a once over, his dark eyes twinkling with a hidden source of humor. "I feel for you, Annabeth. Dating my cousin is like babysitting without pay."

She sputtered. "We're not, uh, exactly, not really-"

Nico glanced at her, surprise glimmering in his eyes. "But you two act like Percy did with-"

Percy clapped his hand over Nico's mouth. "Nevermindallthat! While I AM a little heartbroken that dating me is so offensive, Annabeth, we all know you wouldn't be able to survive without my cooking."

Annabeth sighed. "It's true. He makes a killer sourdough bread."

Percy grinned at Nico. "What're you doing here? How's Bianca?"

The smile faded immediately and Nico looked at his feet.

Percy blanched. "Oh. Oh, dude. I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Nico nodded. "It's okay. You didn't know. It's not your fault. It's just been a tough couple of months."

"What happened? How did it happen?"

"It-"

"Whatever happened, it want your fault."

A solitary tear innocently began trailing its way down his cheek. "I know. It was just- her husband- I tried to save her-"

"Octavian? What about him?"

"I don't even know how they ended up marrying in the first place," Nico answered. "They were polar opposites. It turns out that Octavian was having an affair with someone else. When Bianca confronted him, he flew into a rage and threw a plate at her head. She died the moment it made impact. I was there, Percy! I could have saved her! But instead I reacted too late, and the one thing in my life that made me happy is gone..."

"And you didn't plan on telling me by your own volition any time soon?" Asked Percy.

"I would have a some point, just not-"

"I get it"

Nico and Percy both turned to look at Annabeth. She steeled herself, and kept talking.

"When I was twelve years old, my mother left my father and I. They would always argue, but it would progressively become worse and worse. Eventually, they started bringing me into their arguments. My mother asked me to side with her one day in an argument. I told her I couldn't. The next day, she was gone."

Percy stares at her, dumbstruck. He hadn't known any of that — she'd never told him.

"My father is no longer the same man. He has a new wife, and new kids, and I think he really loved them. But I- I- remind him too much of my mother. I don't mean to rant. All this to say, I understand you. But it's not your fault. In any way. You understand me?"

Nico just nodded.

"Good. Now d'ya want to help us make sourdough bread or not?"

Percy squinted at her. "I believe you mean that I will make it and you will smell it every couple of seconds to 'make sure it's good enough' and then whine when I slap your hand away."

Nico let out a little laugh. "Sure, that all sounds great."

He walked into the kitchen, Percy and Annabeth trailing behind him.

Percy stared at Annabeth in awe. "You're a genius. Thank you. This is what Nico needed. To confront and move on. I didn't know what to do, but you clearly did. Again, you're a genius."

She smiled smugly. "Tell me something I didn't know, Seaweed Brain." She set off running into the kitchen, to hide behind Nico.

"Hey! Get back here, Wise Girl!"

—

Outro A/N  
*climbs out of rock where I've been hiding the last couple weeks*  
Oof, yes. It was short. I knowwwwww. I'm sorrryyyyyy! I did not know SATs were worse when you studied them than when you took them. It's already hell. But here's some lovely Percabeth FLUFF for you, as well as the introduction of Nico and the Percabeth nicknames. I have plans for Nico... *evil laughter ensues maniacally*  
No Solangelo, but you'll see.

Real quick: The sourdough bread is real. I can make a killer sourdough bread. So, if you have a starter, and want my recipe, you need but ask. You have to have a starter first though, remember. But anyways, on to the thanks!

Guest: thanks my dude! Dudette, whatever. I don't know your gender. I'm not sexist. Don't punch me please. Anyway, your constant support is much appreciated! I don't exactly have a nickname for you, but if you ever get an account I promise you'll get one.

ReadingReader: I'm glad you came back! I'm constantly trying to improve, and while this chapter is short *cringes* (sorry) I hope it's to your liking as well! Side note, from now on your nickname is Bookworm. Enjoy.

EdibleSunshine25: Welp, ya made me blush. I'm a guy. We no like to do the blushes. However, your wonderfully supportive comment made me blush. (Side note, can I just call you Shiny? Makes me feel like we're buds. Thanks). Your extended support gives me the courage to keep writing and keep improving, so pleaaase keep reading and keep reviewing. Many hugs!

Dancemaster56: if there will ever be one thing I agree with you on, it's the fact that I'm awesome. Yes, I know that's egocentric. Humility can just suck it. But you know something else? You're awesome too. I love how fired up you get for each chapter, and how expectant you are for the next. Thank you! P.S. your new nickname is Kickass, because I can tell that's what you do when you dance.

SetFires: Vixen, you know you're awesome. Never doubt it. You got me started, and you'll see me through to the end. I know you will. Please be with me for the rest of the journey. Both Foxy and you have been of immense support and help.

Herecomesthepun: Mia, your proofreading is, as usual, excellent. Thanks for being my Beta and responding even through your family vacation. That's commitment right there.


	10. Relapses and Collapses

_**INTRO A/N:**_

_**Well hello there. Yes, I've been under a rock. A heavy weight, anyway. It's called school. Junior year isn't the Hell I was told it would be. It's WORSE. Oh well, Only a semester and 2/3 of one left till senior year, and then I can do whatever the flip I want (as long as it honors Jesus of course :'D). This chapter may not be what you expect. TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER. Please R&R! Without any further ado, let's get into it!**_

Annabeth POV

Saturday morning. 9:00 a.m. In her apartment. Annabeth just had just woken up. The circles under her eyes a dark shade of purple. Her ringtone, "Paradise" by Calypso blasting out.

(Song credit goes to "Think You're The One" by All 4 One, I just switched the gender of the person the singer is talking to.)

**Baby - I think I've finally found - the boy of my dreams  
And mister - I just need to know - if you feel the same about me  
'Cause no one's ever touched me quite the way you do  
You've got me thinkin' 'bout you day and night  
And I've just got to know if it's the same for you  
Do you wanna spend 4-ever by my side?**

_First date in a while. I'm nervous. Where is the guy? Where is he? Oh, there he is. I'm really thirsty. Why am I so thirsty? I think I need a drink. I really need a drink. Where do I get a drink? Oh crap, he's coming over here. Stand straight, look him in the eye, be nice, be pretty, be silly, be funny. No, be serious. No, be- what should I be? Oh, he's speaking to me._

"_Hi"_

"_Hi"_

A shudder passes through her. A great, gasping, tremor. And "Paradise" is still blasting. Who's calling? It doesn't matter. She puts her head into her hands and sobs.

**Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one that I love  
I love you baby  
Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one that I love**

**Oh boy - when I feel your heart - beating so close to mine  
I feel so helpless - I must be falling in love  
'Cause I want you all of the time**

_He's nice. At least, he's dealed with my stumbling conversation this far. What do I talk about next? I should ask him what he does for work. I probably should've done that a while ago. He's paying for dinner and dessert? Wow, he's nice. Oh, he's getting wine too. I really shouldn't. I really shouldn't. Ah, screw it. Just one glass._

Sobs emanated from her mouth and tears began to leak through the cracks between her fingers. And that gods-be-cursed "Paradise" was still ringing.

**Boy - you know that I will never let you down  
You know I'll always be here 4 you  
I promise you that I will never play around  
I swear I'm always gonna be faithful and true**

**Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one that I love  
Said I love you baby  
Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one that I love**

_Oooooooh shiny lights! The man is prettyyyyyyyyy. What's he saying?_

"_I'll walk you out. Let's not take the front door, it could be uncomfortable."_

"_K" I'm giggling. Why am I giggling? Oh well. Giggle is a funny word. Giggle-giggle-giggle-giggle-giggle weeeeeeee! Where are we going? Oh yeahhhhh, the back door. Why are we going out the back door? Oh, who cares. Colors are pretty!_

A little moaning sound came out of Annabeth's mouth. Sobs still wracked her body, and the hands covering her face were trembling.

**And mister you will always be  
The only man I want in my life  
And there is only one place that I'd rather be  
And that's forever and ever by your side**

**I wanna be your girl  
Who cares for you  
Who loves you**

**Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one in all my dreams  
Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be  
Think you're the one only one, one for me  
You're the boy of my dreams  
Think you're the one only one, one for me**

_It's dark outside. I can't even see the moon. It must be on the other side of this alley's wall. What's he doing? Oh, he's putting his hand around my waist. It's nice to be protected. He's nice. Wait, where's his hand going? He's going down. He just squeezed my butt. Oh, well I'm sure it was an accident. He's pushing me against the wall. The wall is cold. Wait, what's happening? He's touching me. It feels funny. Wait, something feels wrong. No, stop! I don't like this! He's pulling my pants down! No! Where is- I know I left it in my bag. RGHHHH I can't reach it! He's starting to unbuckle his pants. NO, I don't like this! NO! NO! There, I got it! Spray, spray, spray him! He's on the floor, rolling around and rubbing his eyes. Interesting how good pepper tastes but it hurts. Wait, he's getting up. I need to leave. Run. RUN!_

And the phone was still ringing. Stupid song. Stupid Calypso with her stupid happiness and her stupid perfect love. She cursed, grabbed the phone, and spoke into it.

"Hello?"

"ANNABETHANNABETHANNABETHANNABETHGUES WHAT!?"

Who else spoke like that? Percy.

"What, Percy?"

"You know the musician Calypso?"  
Did she KNOW her? She'd been tortured with Calypso's happiness for the past fifteen minutes because of Percy's refusal to be denied an answer. "Yeah, I know her. What about her?"

"I'm going on a date with her tonight!"

Annabeth threw the phone at the wall.

**Think you're the one for me**  
**And you'll always be the one that I love  
Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one that I love  
Think you're the one for me  
And you'll always be the one that I love…**

_**OUTRO A/N:**_

_**Hey guys! Yes! Hi! It's me! After an eternity of SATs and school and basically HELL I have posted another chapter! Yes, it's short. I know. And yes, it's dark and depressing. I know. I felt like everything was too perfectly rom-com-y and I needed to throw a little bomb in there. It's not a drama, don't worry, but I wanted to add some depth to the story. Hope you enjoyed guys! I might be putting this on a semi-hiatus, due to being more interested in other work. This story was mostly me experimenting with what I had in fanfiction and testing the waters, seeing what I could do, and the quality of work I could produce. Thank you all for your support! Again, semi-hiatus. I'm not dumping this like all my girlfriends have dumped me (suddenly and painfully). Now to the answers and shoutouts!**_

_**ReadingReader: Bookworm, you've been here since the beginning, and something tells me you'll be here to the end. I'm glad you're enjoying my work, I hope you'll keep enjoying it!**_

_**Guest: Glad you enjoyed! Please come back for more!**_

_**EdibleSunshine25: Shiny, you make my cheeks shine. I'm glad you were having an enjoyable vacation time, and I hope your return to the school year is as smooth as possible. I appreciate the constant reviews, Shiny, it's important to me.**_

_**idkWhatToWrite: First off, your nickname is now Clueless. Second, here's the update you requested! Thank you for reading, I hope you'll come back!**_

_**SetFiresJust2WatchThemBurn: Vixen, why am I even giving you a shoutout here, you may ask? Because everyone needs to be reminded how awesome you are (she has a story on Fictionpad, btw, called Locked and Loaded, please check it out! It's worth it, I promise.) Vix, you told me I should get a little more serious sometimes a while ago, and it inspired me to write this chapter. Thank you.**_

_**Nihal27: First, you need a nickname: Trusty, because you're here almost every chapter to give support, suggestions, and constructive criticism. So, my dear Trusty, I can also promise you that your suggestion HAS been heard. And seeing as it was an amazing one, I WILL follow it, the chapter based on it is coming. Pinkie promise, Trusty.**_

_**That's it for today, guys! Thank you!**_


	11. Rick and Mo- NO, STAR WARS!

**A/N**

**PLEASE READ ALL OF THE BELOW**

**So I bet you thought I had completely given up on this, didn't you? My dear friends, I had not. This story was just something that I just felt I HAD to finish. I saw all your requests that I update, finish, etc. I have grown massively since I started this story, both physically and skill-wise. For one thing, I'm now SEVENTEEN! When I first wrote this story, I had just turned sixteen and was desperate for some love. I found it in writing out my characters, but my immaturity was reflected in my writing. I decided to finish this story in a couple chapters, and I hope you enjoyed my (hopefully) improved writing. I've also gone through some severe moments of depression and darkness. My nightmares are getting worse, and I'm not sure how to deal with them. I wake up screaming at night from the terrors in my mind, and I don't know if it'll ever get better. But that's a separate struggle. I also recently had rather a messy split with a girl, so there's that. Despite the darkness, there is so much light, and so much hope, something I hope y'all never forget. All of your support, love, and kindness has been crazy helpful to keep me from slipping.**

**I will mostly be leaving the writing aspect of Fanfiction. I love all of you, but I recently got an offer for some publishing of a YA original novel of mine. (Side note, if anyone wants to sign up for the newsletter, send me a PM). So that's something that'll officially be taking most of my time up. If any of you want oneshots, I'll definitely consider it, but I'll no longer post multi-chapter stories from now on. If any of you want to know anything else, please send me a message and I'd love to chat with all of you.**

**To those of you who have followed the story from its beginning, may blessings rain down upon you. You are the most incredibly faithful group of readers ever. I'm getting over being an inconsistent writer, but you guys hit me in the middle of when I was most consistent. You have no idea how much love for you guys is in my heart. THANK YOU! I'll leave some sort of ending A/N in the last chapter. Aside from that… enjoy my dear readers.**

* * *

Fifteen minutes after his call with her was cut short, Percy was at Annabeth's apartment, scratching his leg. A couple of knocks later, the door banged open and Annabeth stormed out.

"WHAT?" She screamed at him. "WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT FROM ME?"

"Woah, hey there," he said, concern etched all over his face, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Percy."

"You really aren't."

A little sob bubbled out of Annabeth. And then another. And another. And then she was crying. If he was honest with himself, Percy had no idea as to how to deal with this kind of situation — but he did his best. He hugged her softly, expecting a slap or a shove. Receiving neither, his concern for her only grew. Gently, he led her down the hallway to the living room. Well acquainted with her apartment by now, he sat her down on the couch and rushed into the kitchen to make her some tea.

Finishing this quickly, he brought it in and sat next to his trembling friend. "Hey." There was no response. "Hey, you need to talk about it. Please." There was no change. Still at a loss, he simply wrapped her in a hug, and rocked back and forth a little. A couple of minutes went by this way, and finally she spoke, voice low and a little raspy.

"I went on a date last night."

He smiled crookedly at her. "That bad?"

"You have no idea."

He grew serious. "What happened?"

"It was really great up until the end. He was handsome-"

"Surely not as handsome as me!"

A slight smile flashed briefly over her face. "Shut up. So he was handsome, he paid for dinner, the wine was good…"

"Yeah, that really does sound great. So what happened?"

"I drank a little too much, and then he said we should go out the back." As she told him what had happened, his face grew darker and darker, growing to a shade of black that a Xenomorph would be jealous of. The entire time she had talked, Annabeth had refused to look at him, but he brought his fingers to her face and made her. "Hey," he said again, "maybe you shouldn't have drunk so much, but none of that's your fault. It's the fault of that perverted piece of trash who thought it would be a good night to rape a girl." He brought her in for a hug, holding onto her so tightly that a squeak came out of her. "Now," he spat, "Where did you go on your date? I'm going to find this asshole."

"No, no, it's okay, it's over now. I just need to get over it."

His face fell. "'Just need to get over it?' Oh, Wisegirl." His hands began to ball up into fists, and his knuckles crackled. "This. Wasn't. Your. Fault." His eyes bored into hers, concern filling them. "Now, where'd you go to dinner? I'm going to destroy this man's whole life."

"La Revier."

"And what's he look like?"

"Dark brown hair, blue eyes, slight beard. He's just under six feet tall. At least I think so."

"You were a little too tipsy to perfectly remember. It's okay. Do you remember his name?"

"Andrew? Arnold? Something with 'A'."

He nodded, and stood up — but paused as she called to him.

"Can you stay for a while? Just a little bit. Don't leave me alone quite yet."

He hesitated, but finally nodded. "Of course," he said, sliding back onto the couch, groaning as he stretched, "let's watch Rick and Morty."

Her head shot up. "WHAT!? NO! STAR WARS! THE PREQUELS!"

"Oh come on, the prequels suck."

"THEY DO NOT! TAKE THAT BACK, SEAWEED BRAIN!"

"WE'RE WATCHING RICK AND MORTY!"

They watched Star Wars.

* * *

**Annabeth's P.O.V.**

Exactly five hours later, Percy looked at his watch and sighed. "I have to get ready for my date."

Annabeth smiled at him. "Calypso, eh? How'd you manage that? You have all the beauty and charm of a rotten potato."

He raised his nose at her. "Why, how offensive of you, my dear Wisegirl. I'll have you know that I am a potato of the highest class, maddam — a couch potato."

A snort burst out of her, and he grinned cheekily at her. "She thought I was cute. And we ended up making out in the studio sooooo…" Crossing one leg over the other, he leaned back into the couch. "She wasn't able to resist my charms for long."

Annabeth's face grew soft. "You really do like her, don't you?"

"Pshhhh, yeah, but it's not going to be like Reyna. That was a train-wreck."

"Only a little one."

"Are you kidding me?" He gasped, outraged. "Her fans hate me now! And she has a LOT of fans!"

"So you're going to try to get Calypso's fans to hate you now too?"

In pretend anger, he threw a pillow at her. She threw it right back. He grabbed it, and cocked his arm, preparing to let loose. As she shrieked and dove behind the couch, he sighed. "Ah, I can't do this. I need to go get ready."

"For shame, leaving your best friend like this for a girl you only just made out with in your music studio."

"I'm shameless."

"I'll say. Get out of here, Seaweed Brain, before I make your nickname a reality with my awesome strength and my pillow-whacking abilities."

He looked back at her sadly, fake-pouting as he grabbed his coat, blew her a kiss, and began to close the door behind him. Before closing it completely, he looked back, smiling sadly. "Hey, I'm going to find the jackass that did this to you okay? I'm going to crush his life into such tiny shards that he'll never put it back together."

She rushed at him and hugged him one last time, nearly knocking him over with the strength of it. "You're the best friend a girl could ask for."

"I know."

"Thank you."

"It's been a year since we met and you still haven't left because of how ridiculously stupid I am. I should be thanking YOU."

She poked him in the side. "You already are. Get out of here."

The door closed and she collapsed into her couch, grin wide on her face. From below her apartment, she heard a whoop.

"Calypso, here I come!"

Dork.


	12. Maybe Maybe Maybe

The date seemed to be going well. Percy had paid a little extra for a back booth, and Calypso seemed to be enjoying the privacy from prying paparazzi eyes almost as much as he was. She truly was beautiful. Caramel skin, dark locks, and shining eyes. Her teeth were so straight Percy wondered if they were plastic. When she started laughing, he realized he had accidentally spoken out loud. She smiled brightly at him. "You want to come find out?" Boy, did he.

And then there were five seconds of total bliss, before a camera click was heard and a flash of light burned against his eyes. "YOU SONS OF-" Percy started, "I GOT THIS BOOTH TO HAVE PRIVACY!" The camera-woman scuttled away, and Percy sat back into the booth, dropping heavily upon the plush seating. "Hey," Calypso said to him, "It's okay. It's just the first date. We can have other ones in places where creepy camera ladies aren't stalking us." He laughed, and grabbed her hand, holding her fingers between his. "I'd like that."

Another flash.

"I SWEAR TO THE GODS, IF YOU PAPA-NAZIS TAKE ONE MORE PHOTO OF ME…"

Calypso grabbed his hand, and giggling, pulled him out through the kitchens and then the back door. They rushed to his car. As her long hair streamed out behind her, Percy couldn't help stare at Calypso. She was so beautiful. So kind. She had a joy that filled her life the same way Annabeth did. He enjoyed being around her and felt rather certain she felt the same way. This was good.

* * *

Third date and everything was going great. They were at a carnival, and she was laughing non-stop as he attempted, with his terrible aim, to win her a plush toy, the same way he had laughed at Annabeth for trying to win herself one. They spent a whole day there, and he wasn't bored of going on rides (like those Annabeth got sick on) or the games, or looking into Calypso's eyes as he kissed her. This was good.

* * *

Date number… well, Percy couldn't remember anymore. It'd been seven months, that's all he knew. He and Calypso were finally watching that movie he had watched with Annabeth. To be fair, there wasn't as much chatter between him and Cal as there was between him and Wisegirl, but they were different people. He stuck his feet on her lap and she poked them till he had to take them off, and then they threw popcorn at each other. This was good.

* * *

"I think we need to break up."

This was NOT good.

"What? Cal, come on. Why?"

"You're amazing Perce, we're just not compatible. We don't like the same things, we don't watch the same movies… we don't even argue about things well! I have fun with you, but romantically there's nothing… HERE, you know? And then there's all that time you're spending with your best friend, Annabeth Chase."

"But-"

She raised a hand to stop him from protesting. "I know you would never cheat on me. I know you're loyal. But it's been hard to share you, you know? I think it's just best if we separate. I'd love to still be friends but, well, I just don't feel about you the way I used to. It's nothing you could have prevented, I just don't. I think it's best that way." She hugged him. "Oh, Perce. Promise me you'll still be my friend?"

He wiped a tear away. "Of course."

She stood back and took him by his shoulders. "And hey, go for Annabeth."

"What?"

"You don't see it." She laughed to herself. "Of course you don't. Classic oblivious Percy."

"What're you talking about?"

"You're in love with Annabeth, Perce."

"What? No! I'm in love with YOU!"

"You're in **like** with me. But that way you feel about Annabeth? The way you talk about her no matter what we're doing? The way you have some sort of memory of her no matter where we go? The way she's so deeply a part of you? That's love, Percy."

"I-"

Again, she raised a hand to shush him. "You don't need to say anything. Just think about it. And if you realize I'm right, fight for her. Don't lose her."

And then she was gone.

This was definitely not good.

But… maybe. Maybe it would be. Maybe it could become good.

* * *

"Calypso and I broke up."

"Oh, Seaweed Brain. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I guess. She just said that she didn't feel that way anymore."

Annabeth bumped him with her shoulder. "That stuff happens, you know?"

"I just keep thinking that I could have done something better."

"If I know Cal — and I do — she probably told you that there wasn't anything that you did wrong. So listen to her. And hey," she sent a bright smile his way, "At least this way you have more time for me, mister."

"Dang it."

"Oh shut up," she laughed.

Maybe this could all become good.

* * *

"Hey, they got him."

"Who?"

"The rapist."

"Oh, gods."

"Hey, it's okay. He's going to go to jail for a long, long time. And every time you have one of your nightmares, I'll be there."

"You're the best."

"I know"

She hugged him.

Maybe this could all become good.


	13. Flip-Flops And Unbrushed Hair (Again?)

**One Year After The Last Chapter**

_NO, I don't own Riordan's characters. Stop asking._

"AGH! NO! NOT AGAIN!"

Percy was in despair. This was the twelfth time in a row he had been defeated at Battlefront. He looked over at Annabeth. "How are you so good at this?"

She smirked. "It's math."

"Math?"

"Yes. Mathematics. Used to calculate predictable patterns. And you're highly predictable."

"Predictable? No I'm not!"

"You are, watch."

She had her character point their gun at Percy's, who dodged backwards and rolled to the left, only to be met with Annabeth's missile.

"AAAAHHHHH! HOW?"

"You always do that."

Percy fell to the ground in mock death. "Oh, I am weak! I fall to the earth with shame!"

She poked him with her toe. "Hey, get back up here so I can kick your ass again."

"Do I have to?" He whined "I don't wannaaaaa…"

"Tough cookie. Now get up."

With a moan akin to that of a dying man, Percy rolled to his feet and plunked down onto the couch.

"Oh shut it, you baby. You sound like you're dying."

"My pride is."

She kissed his cheek. "Better now?"

"Yes ma'am. All healed."

They paused for a second as what had just happened settled in. Then Percy dove at her and tackled her onto the couch.

"I'm predictable huh? How was that for predictable?"

She motioned to the pillows arranged perfectly at all the parts of her body that might have gotten hurt. "Predictable."

He growled. "You're playing with fire here, Wisegirl."

"I know."

There was a pause. And then, gentle and light as a feather, he kissed her. Her lips were salty. 'Popcorn,' he thought dully. The kiss was quick. There weren't fireworks — that was stupid. No no, it was more like a roaring fire in his gut that felt like it would consume him from the heat of his love for her. She looked up at him, a little crooked smile on those gods-annoyingly perfect lips of hers. "You know, I've come to enjoy taking risks."

And then she grabbed his shirt, dragged him down, and kissed him back. It was anything but soft this time, a desperation in it. It was almost a war, the two kissing each other so hard that Percy thought it was certain his lips would be bruised the next day. And then there wasn't time to think at all.

**(A/N Let's give them some privacy, shall we? They won't do anything indecent that only married folks should do.)**

* * *

An hour or two later, the two were still hugging. Percy looked over at Annabeth, and kissed her softly again. When they separated, he looked into her eyes and put his forehead to hers. "You have no idea," he gasped out, "How long I've wanted to do that."

"You have no idea," she answered, "how long I've wanted you to do that."

He let out a little laugh. "So now what? Do things go back to normal?"

She seemed to shrink a little. "Do you want things to just go back to normal?"

"Oh, gods NO. I just… I'm scared I won't be enough for you or that I'll fail you. Again."

She relaxed and leaned into him. "You will fail me. But that won't ever change how I feel about you. And I'll fail you, but I hope you feel the same. That's life, you know?"

He stared at her. "How are you so wise?"

"It's called genetics."

"Dang. How'd I ever deserve you?"

"You don't. I'm here anyway."

This was good.

She was laughing, blond hair curling around her shining face. His eyes were filled with such adoration that he thought it might dribble out somehow. She noticed, and walked over, kissing him sweetly before slapping his butt and laughing as she ran off. Roaring, he tore after her, and upon catching her, threw her over his shoulder and walked off to find another ride as she half-heartedly thumped on his back with her fists. This was good.

* * *

They were watching their favorite movie again. Annabeth had only left his apartment to work. At this point, the first guest room was basically hers. His apartment and hers were in equal use at this point.

"Watch, she's going to kick him."

"And then he catches it."

"And they fall on top of each other."

"And then they kiss"

"But she's scared of what's just happened so she goes running off."

"Stupid."

"RIGHT?"

She stuck her legs up on his lap and he rubbed them, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Look at you, making me do manual labor."

"You love it. You like feeling useful."

"Curses. She knows me so well," he said to Hobbes, the cat. Hobbes only meowed and padded off. In lieu of a better answer, he threw popcorn at Annabeth, who caught it in her mouth. They looked back at the television, but her leg was still in his arms. This was good.

* * *

They were together with the whole crew. When Percy saw the girl, Piper, with Jason, he laughed — almost unbelieving. "What's up, restaurant girl?"

She pulled him to a side. "Look, I know that I was targeting you some time ago on that date, but I really like Jason. Please don't mess this up for me."

"And why should I trust you?"

Distressed, she tugged on her arm. "You can't. I need you to trust me. I told him already. I told him everything. And you can warn him too, it's only fair. But I really do love him. If being with him meant never having kids, then so be it."

Percy stopped and thought for a second. Jason was well-to-do, but definitely not the type that Piper would target. He wasn't as well to do as Percy. "Look," he said, "I can't do anything. It's Jason's life. But if I get a hint that you're playing him, I'll do my best to ruin everything."

She looked relieved. "Thank you."

Percy put it out of his mind, and turned to look around for Annabeth. There she was, chatting with Leo and some Hazel. Walking up to them, he patted Leo on the back. The latter hadn't seen him coming, and coughed his drink back up. He glared at Percy, who merely smiled back at him. "So you two finally decided to date?" He asked, albowing Leo.

"And about time too," laughed Hazel, "I thought I'd have to be the one to really ask him out."

Percy gasped. "Leo, old chap, YOU were the shy one?" Leo, still slightly red from the coughing, now turned a shade of puce. "I- She- Uh-"

Lazel leaned over and gave him a peck. "He was nervous. That's pretty sweet by my standards." She looked around at Annabeth. "Well, it's cute thinking about it now — it was just annoying before." Annabeth laughed.

"Seaweed Brain here had the same problem."

"Boys." Hazel rolled her eyes comically

"Boys," Annabeth agreed, as the two males protested.

Annabeth shut up Percy's protests with a kiss, and obviously there weren't enough brain cells to think about anything else but how good Annabeth smelled, how good her hair in his hands felt, and how good her lips tasted.

Hazel hid a little smile. "So how've things been going with you guys?"

"Good!" Answered Annabeth brightly, "It's like hanging out with my best friend all the time, only now I get to kiss him. It's been going pretty smoothly, right Seaweed Brain?"

His brain cells still occupied somewhere else, Percy's mouth only moved up and down. "I- uh… what were we talking about again?"

Annabeth took his arm and flashed a grin at Hazel. "I gotta go help this dumbass recover his brain cells."

"Or lose more!" Hazel threw at their backs.

Percy smiled at Annabeth lovingly.

This was good.

* * *

Percy woke up, and walked into Annabeth's room. It was empty and everything was neat, so she had probably stayed the night over at her house. Annabeth was notorious for being messy at one thing and one thing only — her bed. It was made, so she clearly hadn't slept over tonight. But he heard movement, so she had probably come over a little bit ago. He walked into the kitchen to find her making eggs and toast. Before moving through the door, he took a moment to observe her. Every day, he was taken away at how beautiful she was. How amazing she was. How HIS she was, and how HERS he was. On a split moment's decision, he rushed into his room, and grabbed his car keys. "Hey!" he called to her, "You drive! We're going to the studio!"

Annabeth, caught by surprise, picked the keys up from the counter where they had fallen. "I came over in almost pajamas, Percy. I have FLIP-FLOPS on."

"I know, let's go!"

She sighed and followed him into the garage of his building. Ignoring the stares of the guard, they jumped into the car and began to drive. By this time, Annabeth had a perfect memory of where the studio was. How couldn't she? They'd gone there every day almost, as Percy recorded his new album. As they pulled in, no one else was there. "Percy?" Asked Annabeth, "Why is there no one here?"

"Oh, there's no recording today."

"Then why are we here?"

"You'll see."

"I swear to the gods, if this is another prank, Seaweed Brain…"

"Just come!"

She followed him, and as they went into the recording booth, he motioned for her to put the headset on. "Give it a listen."

**(A/N Song credit to NF. Title is "You're Special".)**

_Yeah, you, baby, you_

_You're something special_

_Baby, I know_

_I know what you're thinkin'_

_Maybe, maybe I'm wasting your time_

_But I promise, but I promise_

_I know that I go back and forth_

_But I won't let you, I won't let you, I won't let you down_

_Yeah_

_I meant it when I told you I would change_

_Meant it when I told you I would stay_

_Sick of talkin' on the phone, babe_

_Time to pack your car and come to my state_

_Come to my place, look at my face, oh, yeah_

_You know I ain't playin'_

_I'll send you some money, yeah, hop in the car_

_And get on the road, here we go_

_Baby, I can't lie_

_I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit scared right now, girl, girl, yeah_

_You said you want more_

_And I can't blame you for_

_Askin' me what's somethin' you deserve_

_You're special_

_Yo-yo-you're special_

_Oh yeah, you're special_

_Yo-yo-you're special_

_Yeah, I knew it, you was my type_

_We ain't gotta skip to the highlight_

_You're the highlight, girl, of my life (woo)_

_Both of us have got a past, but it's alright_

_All night car rides_

_Drivin' through the city, yeah, the view's fantastic_

_It's automatic, could see you smile, gotta have it_

_She got me thinkin' maybe I'ma have to put a ring on it, girl_

_I ain't never been a romantic, but I can romance ya'_

_Get your shoes on, baby, I am not asking_

_I'm 'bout to take you out to dinner, put the black dress on_

_Got the room gaspin', how did this happen?_

_I don't even know_

_She's the type to sing my words at the show_

_She's the type to pick me up when I'm low_

_And remind me she got my back, no matter what_

_Yeah, I think she hearin' me now_

_Say what I think, so I'm thinkin' out loud_

_I need a woman I know I can trust, and I got one_

_I guess you can say that she down_

_Callin' my phone, and she told me she proud_

_She said my name and I like how that sounds, oh, yeah_

_(I like that)_

_I like how this sounds_

_(Baby, I, yeah)_

_Baby, don't make me lose myself_

_I need somebody I know I can trust (yeah)_

_I mean, I'm being honest_

_I ain't ever met a girl like you (no)_

_Baby, you can call me_

_You can call me anytime_

_You can call me any day, anytime_

_You know I'ma answer_

_I won't let you, I won't let you down, yeah_

_You said you want more_

_And I can't blame you for_

_Askin' me for somethin' you deserve (You deserve it)_

_You're special, yeah_

_Yo-yo-you're special_

_I said, girl, I said, you're special_

_I said, you're special_

(Annabeth's P.O.V.)

She took the headset off, only a little less confused.

"Did you like it?" Came Percy's voice from behind her.

"Yeah…" she said, turning, "but why'd you want show me it now, of all ti-"

Her hand went to her mouth. He was on one knee. There was a little box. And there was a ring. It wasn't fancy, but was pure gold — even Annabeth, with her limited jewelry studies, could see that. And then he spoke, voice still raspy from having just woken up. "Annabeth Atalanta Chase, I've known you for a long time. I know you haven't combed your hair. I know you have flip flops. I know you're probably tired because you had nightmares last night. I know that even now you're thinking about how much this ring probably cost. And all of these are things that I love you — not DESPITE, but BECAUSE of. This ring has an inscription, Wisegirl. In Hebrew, it says 'I am of my beloved, and they of me.' Will you make that true?"

She looked at him, eyes a little watery. "You knew the answer was going to be yes," she said at last, "Why'd you even ask?"

A little gasp-laugh escaped him, and shakily, he put the ring on her finger. Then she tackled him to the ground and kissed him, both gently and a little wildly. "In case you wanted a more legally worthy answer," she told him, gasping for breath, "the answer is yes".

* * *

**A/N: Ah, so here we are. Thank you for finishing my story!**

**Shiny, I made a promise I'd finish this and I did. Thank you for being here since the start.**

**Trusty, I hope this writing was more to your liking.**

**Vix, here's to all the sleepless nights we spent writing this together.**

**To all the rest of you, if it's not enough, let me know. Maybe I'll write an epilogue. I'm not sure.**

**Blessings to all, and have a great rest of your life.**

**(Also really do sign up for my newsletter, please. I'm shameless lol.)**


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